Goodbye Brooklyn

For now.

Happy.
New.
Year.

Cover Star: Tillary right off of Flatbush
Headlining Band: Mister Wareham

Exhausted

Me, the year, another decade decayed.

Another dead visionary.

More fun in the new world - 2010.

Promise?

Cover Star: O'Hare International
Headlining Band: Mister Chesnutt, RIP

www.jamesmgraham.net

Year's End

Cover Star: Alexi
Headlining Band: Mister Smith

www.jamesmgraham.net

You've Gotta Be Fucking Kidding Me...

Really?

Cover Star: Get Your Ass Out From Behind My Back
Headlining Band: Mister Dulli

www.jamesmgraham.net

Whatever You Do, Don't Tell Anyone...

They've already made up their minds about things that aren't their business anyway. They always do. It's part of the risk about putting yourself out there and knowing people. Or at least, running into them.

Opinions. Stories. Fallacies. And little tidbits of the "truth."

And the thing that makes me smile the most is this:

No matter how fertile their imagination is, their version pales in comparison to reality.

Swallow and chew...

Cover Star: My "Little German Girl"
Headlining Band: Mister Homme

www.jamesmgraham.net

Jumped Into The River

"Can you stay here next to me?
We'll just keep drivin'
Because of you I see a light..."

I don't know how to swim.

Cover Star: Alexis
Headlining Band: Mister Lanegan

www.jamesmgraham.net

For The Future Of The Past

I just want everything to be okay.
Will it be?
Hard to say...

But it does take two to Tango.

Dammit, I want a cigarette.

Cover Star: Ieva @ Marilyn
Headlining Band: Mister Cave

www.jamesmgraham.net

He Was Still Awake

And seeking out NOISE.
It's one of those nights where noise cleanses.
I hope.

Cover Star: Fujiroid
Headlining Band: Giant Sand w/ PJ covering X

www.jamesmgraham.net

What?

Cover Star: Bielefeld
Headlining Band:'Diohead

www.jamesmgraham.net

Feedback...

...is one of my favorite things in the world.

Electric guitar-wise. So is intelligent songwriting. That's feedback too.

And poignant photographs.

And a song about Nico.

Listen. Learn.

I wonder if anyone listened to the last post - "Store Front Display" by Howe Gelb.

"You poor old dump of wax
Limping socks full of tacks
You poor old out of whack
You poor old fucked up load
Crippled up on crumpled road
You don't show up without some flack
Here in the core of the crust
When your rust turns to dust
Here in the core of the crust
A store front display
Eyes that stare and don't turn away"

It's not just Howe's wonderful rhymey songwriting - it's the feedback. He's an unknown genius, but when you get to know him, he's undeniable. Turns out he played Hamburg while I was there. Fuck. The last time I saw him was on Broadway and Spring Street after a gig at the (old) Knitting Factory. He asked me for a good rice and beans place and then introduced me to Joey and John from Calexico like I didn't know who they were. Like a gentleman.

Go back and listen again. Do it. Loud. Twenty-five times. Then buy all of his and Giant Sand's records that you can find. There's like thirty of them...

Here.

But in the meantime, listen to Howe's little ode to the former dead lead singer of The Velvet Underground.

And get back to me.

Oddly enough, it's feedback-free...

Cover Star: Photoshop
Headlining Band: Howe

www.jamesmgraham.net

Days Flash Past

The world spins faster and faster. It spreads people all over the globe like some galactic centrifuge. What if for once, I held on, grabbed a belt loop or something and closed my eyes and held on real tight? Would I land somewhere in one piece? Would I be lucky to have landed at all?

Maybe just happy. But I don't think I'm dumb.

In the core of the crust, I don't want to end up some store front display...

I think I see a belt loop. Or something.

Cover Star: A
Headlining Band: Howe

www.jamesmgraham.net

Hunky Dory

Which means:

Happy. OK. Everything alright. Wonderful.

There will be a time. There will be a time.

Cover Stars: Kooks
Headlining Band: The Arcade Fire w/ Mr. Jones

www.jamesmgraham.net

For Bradley

Who I don't see enough, but we see Chelsea Sanitation work it all out, etc...
Who I pick up with like it was yesterday, Crusty jumping on the bed, etc...
Who makes me laugh, four hours here, four hours there, etc...
Who I love, etc...

My friend, I think you might like this photograph and this song.

Sleep tight and safe trip home.

Books coming your way soon...

Cover Star: Puss 'n' Boots
Headlining Band: The lovely Miss Alison, again.

www.jamesmgraham.net

The Lack Thereof

As I told my friend Brendan tonight:

"If I had enough money, you'd be sitting in this bar by yourself right now."

And this piece of paper would not exist.


And this would be playing:

On repeat.

Cover Star: Return ticket
Headlining Band: The lovely Miss Alison, again.

www.jamesmgraham.net

World, Do Your Worst

Q: Whose creative works inspire you, photographic, or otherwise?

A: Everything I see and experience inspires me. Either negatively or positively. It would be easy to list my favorite photographers, filmmakers, cinematographers, authors, poets, people, places and things, but really it's irrelevant. My various and emotional states hurl me towards taking photographs. For better or worse.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

"I sat you down and told you how
the truest love that's ever found
Is for oneself
You pulled apart my theory
With a weary and disinterested sigh

So yes, I guess, I'm asking you
To back a horse that's good for glue
And nothing else
But find a man that's truer than
Find a man that needs you more than I

Sit with me a while
And let me listen to you talk about
your dreams and your obsessions
I'll be quiet and confessional..."

Cover Star: Monday Night In The Universe
Headlining Band: The joint in the middle or your arm

www.jamesmgraham.net

All I Wanted Was You To Take Me Out...High

Feet back on what feels like foreign soil. For now...

Everything is so much easier when you are in a surreal fantasy realm. Everything is so much nicer when no one really knows where you are. Everything is so much more beautiful when nothing else but the moment matters.

That said, one addiction down, several more to contemplate.

11 days and still clean...

Headlining Band: Alison Goldfrapp

www.jamesmgraham.net

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space

Headlining Band: Spiritualized

www.jamesmgraham.net

T Minus One and Counting...

Almost done...

Q: So what's your definition of art?

A: It's something that conjures up a feeling in me, forces an emotion, whether negative or positive, that someone has intentionally created. Something that is evocative of a part of my life, my experience on this planet, the way I think. Art is fleeting, rare and completely relative.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

Cover Star: Julia
Headlining Band: Mr. James Moore

www.jamesmgraham.net

T Minus Two and Counting...

Q: And what about lighting - what role does light play?

A: Light is everything. I light like I want to see. I tend to light harshly and then figure out how to bring out the best in the subject. My lighting is my signature, even though any photographer or cinematographer of any worth would nail it in a heartbeat. It's still mine.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

"Bed on my back
Dealt my hell I've dealt my months of May
Bed on my back
Get parted ascension day"

It's my Mother's Birthday. Happy birthday, Mom.

Cover Star: Vanity
Headlining Band: Talk Talk

www.jamesmgraham.net

T Minus Three and Counting...

"Unfamiliar skyline
Reading a foreign newspaper..."

Cover Star: Marcela
Headlining Band: Swearing At Motorists

T Minus Four and Counting...

"Even if you have
Even if you need
I don't mean to stare
We don't have to breed
We can plant a house
We can build a tree
I don't even care
'We could have all three'
She said."

Cover Star: Hands
Headlining Band: He'd be 42

T Minus Five and Counting...

I had a long conversation tonight with my friend Marko about NASA.
And it's relevance. Now (and ever).

Do you know that they "bombed" the moon a couple of weeks ago to look for water?
While people are dying of thirst.
Do you know that "they" twitter?
WTF? My tax money is being spent on twittering?

Does this bother anyone else but me - "Hey there! NASA is using Twitter."

"Hey there!"??? Seems like NASA might have something more important to do. Like fix fire alarms.

This tweet from "2 hours ago" - really -

"False alarms sounded around 10p EST aboard the space station, awakening the crew. Mission Control verified they're false. Everyone is safe."

Uhmmm...

Well, god fucking bless! One day they'll figure out how to keep those FIRE alarms from malfunctioning, I swear they will! (Double A batteries?) Go back to sleep astronauts, your government is in control. And really, only two space shuttles out of how many - exploded. And killed EVERYONE on board.

I know, it's the price we must pay for FREEDOM, or at least the price to beat other countries to being FIRST, or to find water on the moon. Yeah...

And these are the guys (or sons and daughters of the guys) that "actually" landed a man (or men, if you believe them) on the moon.

With Double A batteries.

Marko was quick to point out that the phones in both of our pockets are more powerful computers than those that were used for the Apollo missions.

We decided that basically the space shuttle program is a FREE tow truck service for the wealthy corporations that need their satellites repaired.

Anyway, nevermind. Just kidding...lol! hahaha!

Fuck.

Cover Star: Relevance
Headlining Band: The Nova Mob

Some Things Are Worth Fighting For, Even If You Have To Fight Yourself

Q: What personal satisfaction do you get from this?

A: Who doesn't want to be famous? Who wouldn't like to be Jim Morrison for a few hours? It's gratifying to be recognized by your peers or mentors, but really, I do this because I have no choice. There's something ingrained in my DNA that compels me to create imagery. It's not so much personal satisfaction as it is relief. And yes, I would like to leave behind a body of work, because as I mentioned, mortality does play a huge part in this.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

I'm waging war on myself,
Like a punch in the heart...

Cover Star: Mortality
Headlining Band: My beloved Kinks

I Sit at my Table and Wage War on Myself

Q: What do you know now that you didn't know ten years ago?

A: I trust myself now. I've learned that my gut is usually right. And then there's the ten years of experience. You can't really deny that practice improves one's craft. I've become a halfway decent director. I've been around the block with every kind of model, makeup artist, stylist and location. I know my film stocks intuitively as well as my equipment. The act of photographing has become a part of my body. Now my brain can focus more on what the image needs to be.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

"You fill in the mortar
You fill in the harmony."

Cover Star: Ieva @ Marilyn
Headlining Band: Those guys from Athens; major label debut. Sorry Carolyn.

There's That Melody Again

Q: And how do you know when you've got the shot?

A: Lightning strikes. You just know. Like anything else, it's just right time, right model, right direction, right place. You always know when it happens. I remember the first time I felt that and always will. And then you go to the lab and cross your fingers, but you know nine times out of ten, you're right. Or you don't feel anything at all and you get nothing. Or you don't feel anything at all and you get something. That's what you hope for. Hope for. But you can't plan it. You just have to be confident. And take photographs.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

Cover Star: Chantal @ Marilyn
Headlining Band: Rocky Muzics

Out Of The Blue

"The Fourth Roxy Music Album" is nothing short of a masterpiece. By this time (1974), with Mr. Eno departed, Bryan Ferry had really found his stride lyrically and vocally as had Mssrs Manzanera and Mackay, instrumentally respective. Add Eddie Jobson's electric violin for good measure and you've got something like no other.

I would argue that most of the songs are ruminations on love. From the obvious "The Thrill of It All" to the veiled "Prairie Rose" most likely about Ferry's then Texas born girlfriend, Jerry Hall. Then there's "Out of the Blue"...

This song is a musical orgasm. I'd put it in the same category as "How Soon Is Now" but different. Actually, upon further thought, "How Soon Is Now" is more of an aphrodisiac. Play that one first...

...then get off.

"You seemed so sad
I could see
Through your twisted smile
So unsure
Always confused
Pale blue eyes
Gazing down
From your ivory tower
Through the haze
All broken and bruised
Then, out of the blue
Love came rushing in"

I've always wanted to make a film based on this song.
Even with the Velvet Underground reference.
"Out of the sky came the sun..."

Indeed.

Cover Star: Country Life. Photography by Eric Boman.
Headlining Band: Mr. Ferry, et al, for George, who is missed.

It's Friday the 13th, Baby Kitty!

C'mon! Put your little black dress on.
We're going downtown!
To see Greg.
Shiiiiit...

Cover Star: The BK by the illustrious Charles Willis
Headlining Band: Mr. Dulli. It's one of those nights...listen.

Perfect

"Got my girl and she's a wow..."

You Lying There With All The Light In Your Hair

Q: What about black and white vs. color?

A: I primarily shoot black & white film, which I find approximates how I "see." There is also a classic, timeless quality to black & white film - I love photos that aren't betrayed by any specific time period, you know they could have been taken in the 1920's or they could have been taken yesterday. I also find that by controlling contrast you can heighten a mood - much more difficult to do that in color. I do shoot color film when the idea is "color" or the end product needs to be in color, and it is also very satisfying. But it's a different tool altogether.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

Cover Star: Ieva @ Marilyn
Headlining Band: Mr. Cave, for Lauren, missed.

Something's That Real

Q: So, it's all about sex?

A: Of course it is. It's about mortality, too. And don't forget money!

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

I'll let Willie say the rest.
Listen. Missing. Listen.

Cover Star: Ieva @ Marilyn
Headlining Band: Mr. Nelson

Bittersweet Distractor

From yesterday. Ieva in a $1,000 dress circa 1920 in a house built in 1790. She has a twin who also models.

They're both 1991.

The afternoon was entirely hers, pulling off a good three (and a half) looks.

You'll be seeing more of her. Here, there and everywhere.

Cover Star: Ieva @ Marilyn
Headlining Band: Mr. Yorke

Fate Has Only One Thing In Mind

From this morning. Chantal in a $2,000 dress circa 1890 in a house built in 1790. She left at 12:30pm to go shoot with John Paul Gautier for ELLE.

She's 1992.

But I pulled off two looks before he snatched her away.

Apparently I gotta good eye...

You'll be seeing more of her. Here, there and everywhere.

Cover Star: Chantal @ Marilyn
Headlining Band: Beck

I Didn't Know This Could Happen To Me...

"I saw her, yeah I saw her with her black tongue tied
Round the roses
Fist pounding on a vending machine
Toy diamond ring stuck on her finger
With a noose she can hang from the sun
And put it out with her dark sunglasses
Walking crooked down the beach
She spits on the sand where their bones are bleaching
And I know I'm gonna steal her eye
She doesn't even know what's wrong
And I know I'm gonna make her die
Take her where her soul belongs
And I know I'm gonna steal her eye
Nothing that I wouldn't try

Hey, my sun-eyed girl
Hey, my sun-eyed girl

I saw her, yeah I saw her with her hands tied back
And her rags were burning
Crawling out from a landfilled life
Scrawling her name upon the ceiling
Throw a coin in a fountain of dust
White noise, her ears are ringing
Got a ticket for a midnight hanging
Throw a bullet from a freight train leaving
And I know I'm gonna steal her eye
She doesn't even know what's wrong
And I know I'm gonna make her die
Take her where her soul belongs
And I know I'm gonna steal her eye
Nothing that I wouldn't try."

Beck. And a bunch of other stuffs.

Cover Star: Angela, 2006
Headlining Band: Big Star

The Lure of Your Chemical is All I Can Taste

Q: Does truth matter?

A: I suppose that any image I create is by definition "the truth" but the real truth? Doubtful. What is "truth?" I think of truth more as documentary photography. My work is mostly artifice. A happy artifice, but not so true. Some of it, maybe, but the true part is hard to pinpoint.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

Angels are everywhere. You just have to pay attention and be aware. Hard, I know. But if you do it...you'll be astounded.

Thanks Chip. Thanks John.

Cover Star: Bathroom, Berlin
Headlining Band: My beloved Grifters

I Was a Planet When I Was Smaller

Q: In that old Hollywood pitch fashion, I've sometimes described your work as being a cross between that of Nan Goldin and Cindy Sherman. What do you think?

A: I admire both of these photographers' bodies of work. I think I share certain sensibilities with both, but a hybrid of the two? I don't know. I share Goldin's fascination with the odd, the socially unacceptable, the 'we know about it we just don't want to see it.' I think my work tends to be a little lighter and it's not straight documentary. I create my characters - she photographs actual people. Sherman obviously creates characters, but I'm rarely in my own photographs. It's interesting to me that you chose two really strong female photographers to compare my work to.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

When you said it would be forever, that's the sweetest thing I ever heard.

Cover Star: Hay Dee
Headlining Band: My beloved Grifters

Fixed In The Sky

Q: There are also a lot of "vices" in your photographs. Do you celebrate them? Or are they just props?

A: Vices make people interesting. Everyone has them, and the people that say they don't have them are lying. I do like the image of the classic underbelly dweller, for instance, a prostitute that smokes, drinks, takes speed and curses. The work of The Beats, Lou Reed, Larry Clark, the sort of characters they create or document. To me, vices do represent a certain truth about people. Not necessarily a "pretty" truth, but the truth nonetheless. Personally, I do enjoy a good drink and need to stop smoking...again.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

Oh to be the sunshine on your ass.

Cover Star: sunshine
Headlining Band: My beloved Grifters

Backlash

Q: Your style is often rough-edged, and you talk about seeking surrender and vulnerability, shooting depression and sadness. Yet some of your work is quite romantic. How does that all go together?

A: Perhaps my definition of romanticism is full of surrender and sadness, ultimately, I've been battling with that my entire life - I am drawn to "sad" music and "depressing" films. I don't know, those are just labels. I guess misery loves company, but only to a certain extent. I do appreciate melancholy. I don't necessarily enjoy living through it, but to me those feelings are much more human than happiness. When I see someone who is "happy" all the time, I am immediately suspicious.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

And if God hears all of my questions, how come there's never an answer?

Cover Star: Marie
Headlining Band: Lips

Caligari's Attic

Q: Is there an autobiographical element to your work?

A: Yes. I think that there is an autobiographical element to any artist's work - there has to be - I don't see any way of getting around it. We are. I think that anyone that knows me personally would be able to see that. It might frighten them, but they could see it. With my self-portrait series, I try to turn that convention on its head - it's really not me that you see.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

I just don't want you anymore.

Cover Star: Kelly
Headlining Band: Athens' Finest (demo)

This One Goes Out to The One I've Left Behind

Q: William Burroughs, no stranger to vices, wrote: "Nothing is true, everything is permitted." Does that have resonance for you?

A: Absolutely, in the truest definition of what Burroughs was trying to communicate and also - with many more limitations put upon the statement, which Burroughs would argue kills it outright - how it defines not the art, but an approach to creating art. In my opinion, there should be no subject that is off limits to an artist, but we know that man-made conventions, such as religion, tend to limit what some people will tolerate. And also in the sense that I am creating something. It's not the truth. Every non-documentary photograph I take I make it up. It didn’t exist before, but now it does. Which arguably makes it the truth - or not.

- From "Some Of This Is True"
© Luxxus Press

Monday night in the universe.

Cover Star: fire
Headlining Band: Mono

And Like A Doll That Loses Its Balance

I know a couple or two...

There's a fine line between living and not. There's a fine line between making ends meet and not. There's a fine line between coping and not. There's a fine line between one and one's family. There's a fine line between being fine - and not.

I'm on the other side of the line. The other than not side. Things are happening. Strange things, but things, indeed.

Video documentary. Historic NYC House fashion shoot. Travel.

Indeed.

Note to self:

If it happens, I just might name my daughter "Melody."

It doesn't get any better than this.

Cover Star: The worst peacetime decision ever made
Headlining Band: Serge and his gorgeous strings and other genius things...

It's Halloween

Hello to my friend Brian Cooper, grandson of Ben Cooper. Sorry Brian, that I couldn't make your party tonight. Prior obligations and shit.

And shit.

Happy Birthday, you Halloween baby, you!

If you don't know who Brian's Grandfather was, just Google "Ben Cooper costumes" - and, yeah.

I had The Devil, Frankenstein, and Woody Woodpecker...

I hate Halloween.

Exactly one year ago, or maybe two, or maybe two in a row, I left this exact same song on this here blog.

Cover Star: Sarah, Egyptian Princess, who graced me with her presence tonight.
Headlining Band: The Dream Syndicate

I Ain't Got No Money And I Ain't Got No Hair

"Right before he left, for some reason, he did not want to go. He had talked about it for years, and specifically for the last two months, but something, something nagging at him, scared him. The fear of the unknown? No, that never scared him before. Perhaps it was being by himself. Alone.

Right before he left for some reason, he fell down twelve times as if he had suffered a stroke, fucked up his hat, clothes and his body and barely made it home. Then a couple of days later, he fell off of a barstool, then again on the sidewalk, but this time in the comfort of very good, and documentary-minded friends.

But once he got there, everything was okay. Eventually. At least when the city started to make sense. When things started to calm down. When the people around him started making sense.

He missed that now. Far away and fading, but not too far away."

The go-go bars in Jersey are harder and harder to tolerate. It's the shake your booty for four seconds and then expect a dollar deal. In a bikini. And the Corona is still six bucks. This makes you end up at a joint where the dancers can actually disrobe, and you have your choice of Becks Clean or O'Douls, which makes you want to brush your teeth. It might be a dive on 2nd Avenue in Brooklyn, where there's no hope. And it doesn't matter if you tell them you want to buy the joint, unless they believe you, which none of them do. Even if you tell them your name is Slim. Even if you are sort of serious. There's no hope there. And it's not for sale.

What's happened to this country? That state? This borough?

We've lost our good old Mama and must have whiskey or you know why...

Fun Fact: The second largest city in Germany is Hamburg. Port town. Red light district. The Beatles became The Beatles there...

Cover Star: Candle
Headlining Band: Ever Feel Like You've Been Cheated?

All I See Is All I Know

"And you, you can be mean...
And I, I'll drink all the time."

I can't stand another sound.

Cover Star: Nat
Headlining Band: Sam Therapy and King Dice

Is There Life After Marriage?

This means nothing.
This means everything.
This means EXACTLY what YOU want it to mean.
This don't mean shit to me.
Well, it does, but that's between me and - me.

"She began to wail, jealousy scream, waiting at the lights, know what I mean?"

That's Carlos Alomar on guitar.

Cover Star: HayDee
Headlining Band: Scary Monsters Demos, 1980.

"Be My Wife" - Dissected

Sunday morning, wine and cigarettes for breakfast.

"Be My Wife" from Bowie's first of the three "Berlin Trilogy" albums, "Low", is one of my favorite songs in the world.

Since he was living in West Berlin with Iggy at the time, I have no idea who this song is about, if anyone - perhaps Iggy.

The "promotional film" (pre "music video") is a gem.

A couple of things:

The white cyclorama with the long guitar cord is the nazz. With god-given ass...

I digress.

Bowie played all of the guitar on "Diamond Dogs" after parting ways with Mick Ronson (RIP). However, he is not known as a guitarist, per se.

The guitarist on this song is a strange genius named Ricky Gardiner. He also played on Iggy's "Lust For Life" and composed the music for Iggy's "The Passenger."

Note: Bowie DID NOT play guitar on "Be My Wife".

A frame by frame dissection, with commentary:

0:00 - 0:28 - Great lipstick, questionable clothing.
0:28 - 1:11 - One shot close-up of Bowie's face while he's playing the first guitar solo. We see him making the "jam face" but we don't see his fingers on the guitar. Hmmm...
1:11 - 1:15 - Abandons playing guitar altogether.
1:15 - 1:21 - In a long shot, you can't tell if he can play or not. Suspend disbelief.
1:21 - 1:38 - Abandons playing guitar altogether. Also does cool Bowie hand gestures. Really cool ones that you and I cannot get away with.
1:38 - 1:48 - Approximates guitar notes.
1:48 - 1:57 - Abandons playing guitar altogether. And what the fuck is up with that close-up of his hand doing nothing? Genius.
1:57 - 2:27 - Approximates guitar notes, but not really.
2:27 - 2:34 - Acceptable cut-away to close-up on face whilst making "jam face."
2:34 - 2:55 - Approximates guitar notes, but not really.
2:55 - 3:12 - Abandons playing guitar altogether. Does cool Bowie shit with his body. The last close-up of his face looking at the camera is priceless. And then Duran Duran and Japan were born, amongst countless others...

I ordered the Berlitz CD-ROM Learn German Thingy.

Ja mein Herr.

If You Had To...

- refuse to answer inane, self-serving, one-sided questions.
- better yourself.
- stop defending yourself against anything. Everything.
- leave and disappear.
- be famous.
- realize your dreams.
- figure out what your dreams were.
- stop being so...

What would you do?

Better question:

If you had to pick one musician/band that "defines" you, who would it be?

I'm trying to pick through eleven right now...

Here's one:

"It's raining hammers, it's raining nails..."

Cover Star: The FDR on a Saturday Night
Headlining Band: My beloved Mr. Waits

Consensus

"Consensus in the English language is defined firstly as unanimous or general agreement; and secondly group solidarity of belief or sentiment. Ideally, achieving consensus requires serious treatment of every group member's considered opinion. Those who wish to take up some action want to hear those who oppose it, because they count on the fact that the ensuing debate will improve the consensus. Action without resolution of considered opposition will be rare and done with attention to minimize damage to relationships."

They're people I know - people I love. And they say. Go.
So, after a lot of independent thought, here I go...

..dredging the oceans, lost in my circles.

Cover Star: A Station
Headlining Band: My beloved Swans

Baby Sing With Me Somehow

I was surprised by a lot of things, but especially how much I loved the sound of your voice, singing...

Cover Star: Aleks (unretouched)
Headlining Band: Neil, circa 1971

I'm Home, Lost My Job, and Incurably Ill...

You think this is easy? Realism - I got a girl out there I suppose...

Berlin Love Affair

Just like New York, at first,
A city that never smiles.
A city that seldom speaks.
A city that intimidates at the touch of boot on cobblestone.

Standing at the intersection, so many of them, wondering.
Where to go, what to do
And suddenly it all made sense.

And then:
You said, come over here, James Graham, I need a hug.
Suddenly everything smelled like cotton candy.
For days...

And then:
On the last day, you said, I don't know when I will see you again
And that makes me sad.
And I said goodbye...

I had no idea you would steal a little piece of my heart.
But you did.

I want to be in you as often as possible.

Life Stands Still And Stares

"I feel a bit roughed up, feel a bit frightened
Nearly pin it down some time
Red sail action wake up in the wrong town
Boy, I really get around

Do you remember we another person
Green and black and red and so scared
Graffiti on the wall kept us all in tune
Bringing us all back home."

- David Robert Jones

Cover Star: HayDee
Headlining Band: Mick, Keef, etc...

"When people look at my pictures...

...I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice."

- Robert Frank, LIFE Magazine, 26 November 1951

A hundred thousand more, please?

Cover Star: Meagan, far from Berlin
Headlining Band: The Dandys. Sound like "Ashes To Ashes"? That's 'cause it is...

It Was Cold and It Rained So I Felt Like an Actor

Cover Star: Ms. Dietrich
Headlining Band: Ziggy w/ The Arcade Fire, Radio City, NYC 2005